The Count: So Many Close Postseason Games

Maybe the Twins-Tigers tiebreaker to decide the AL Central was contagious. The Tigers tied the game in the 8th, took the lead in the 10th and lost it in the 12th. Since then, nine of the 20 postseason games — or 45% — have seen ties or lead changes in the 8th inning or later, making for an unusually thrilling postseason. Of 1,232 playoff games before this season, just 307, or 25%, were so close so late. If this year’s playoffs maintain their current rate, they will feature the highest proportion of such games since 9 of 19 games shared that feature in 1991, and will threaten for the all-time record of 12 such tight games, set in 1995, 1996 and 2003.